The Pakistan Jinnah envisioned

Jinnah stood for faith, unity and discipline.Today we stand for hatred, prejudice, intolerance and bigotry.

Dr Meher Zaidi August 15, 2010
I have been reading the Dawn newspaper  since I was a child and it helped form a clear, balanced image of the founder of Pakistan in my mind. This year as I read an article by Jinnah expert Shariful Mujahid  article, entitled return to Jinnah’s Pakistan’ I saw with dismay and pessimism , a picture so grey and small.

Gone were the beautiful bright colours of the people of Sindh, Baluchistan , Frontier and Punjab. Gone were the dreams and promises. The style in which he has addressed the readers shows how hopeless and petty our issues have become. How we as a people and a nation have failed completely to govern, guide and prosper. How our ship of nationhood has entered the tossing, destroying, stormy waters of disintegration and destruction. And all thanks to the demons and despots , who only for their petty gains, their bird-brained thoughts, imposed on such a vibrant, tolerant, dynamic people over the last 60 years. No wonder India is still trying to shake our foundations. No wonder we are labeled as a failed state. Through consistent destruction of institutions and syncophant promotion our whole paradigm of healthy progress is destroyed.

Jinnah stood for faith, unity and discipline.Today  we  stand for hatred, prejudice, intolerance and bigotry. He said "let all people worship freely in churches, masjids and temples." He stood for honesty and hard work, of which he himself was a shining example. We stand for sheer parasitic, nepotism, communal promotion and moral corruption. He stood for democracy and the masses. We stand for maneuvering, cheating and colluding . He stood for integrity of character.We stand for deluge, trickery, bribery and sheer baseness! My heart is filled with intense pain. I grieve for the lost ideal and I grieve for the lost truth.

Do you not think that it is time for us all to discard the mantle of bigotry and lies. It is time to reread and repledge our vows for a revived Jinnah’s Pakistan? Otherwise we may lose this beautiful country, the soul of our existence, forever! We may never be able to justify the reason for creation of Pakistan again.
WRITTEN BY:
Dr Meher Zaidi A blog on development, health and human rights.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (2)

Ghulam Kundanam | 13 years ago | Reply The solution is Azad Hind Desh a united nation of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. GK, Citizen of Azad Hind Desh (Hindukush Hill to Hindmahasagar)
Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply Lets not get carried away by idolizing "Jinnah's Pakistan". Even though Jinnah said a few thing that sound secular, those oft-repeated sound bites don't mean anything. The fact of the matter is that he fought for a nation that was based on Islamic principles. Anything with the word "Islam" and "state" in the same sentence is totally antithetical to pluralism, secularism, and the separation of church and state. Almost by definition! So, lets not whitewash the past. Jinnah wanted an Islamic country and he got one. And now 63 years later, almost as an inevitable consequence, we are suffering the consequences of religuous extremism. Ahmed
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